Specialty Food Magazine is the leading publication for retailers, manufacturers and foodservice professionals in the specialty food trade. It provides news, trends and business-building insights that help readers keep their businesses competitive.
Issue link: https://www.e-digitaleditions.com/i/769179
Winter Fancy Food Show Booth 3304 The Charitable Model Karmalize.me has crafted a business where 50 percent of its net profit from all sales— that includes international, retail, and online —are donated to charities chosen by the consumers doing the purchasing, as well as by Haryani and Bhatnagar. When setting up an account with Karmalize.me, customers specify the char- ity they would like to donate to before making their first purchase. Revenue from the customer is then assigned to the spe- cific charity after each purchase is made. Popular customer-chosen charities include the Society for Prevention Against Animal Cruelty and City Harvest, as well as pro- grams that promote vegetarian food in schools and early childhood education. If customers make a purchase without specifying a charity they'd like to donate to, Haryani and Bhatnagar have chosen two charities that are near and dear to their own hearts: Care for Children, which supports free education for children in developing countries; and Project Welcome Home Troops, which supports U.S. troops returning from Iraq and Afghanistan who suffer from PTSD. The company's next big project is to help show its customers how their donations are being used, to better illustrate the impact consumers can have with every purchase they make. "We want to share on our website not only where the dollar is going, but how that dollar is being stretched," says Haryani. While the exact plan on how to do this is still being shaped, Haryani and Bhatnagar are hoping to be able to show an overhead giving back While Karmalize.me products have struggled in the US retail market because of relatively high prices, exporting products to Japan has proven lucrative, as Japanese consumers are willing to pay a premium and the market takes quality and price in stride. 70 ❘ SPECIALTY FOOD MAGAZINE specialtyfood.com